Process for generating and utilizing hydrocarbon vapors or gases



J. P. KENDALL.

PROCESS FOR GENERATING AND unuzme HYDROCARBON V-APORS on GASES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.14| 1918. 11 376 1 Patented Apr. 26 1921a 0 0 0 0 0 0A 0' {1J1 I 000000 0 11411 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 wlbzess'es.

lTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES PICKERING KENDALL; OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T0 KENDALITE COMPANY, INC., 013 NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION.

PROCESS FOR GENERATING AN D UTILIZING HYDROCARBON VAPORS 0R GASES.

naraioo.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

Application filed March 14, 1918. Serial No. 222,432.

To all whom it may camera.

Be it known that I, JAMES PIGKERING- KENDALL, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for .Generatin and Utilizing Hydrocarbon Vapors or ases, of which the following is a specification.

In certain types of apparatus for burning hydrocarbon liquids, such for instance, as kerosene, it is common to provide a vapor generating chamber in which the liquid 1s heated before being delivered to the burner outlet. In practice this heating of the hydro-carbon liquid for the generation of the vapor results in the formation ,of a carbon deposit in the vapor generator. If this deposit be permitted to accumulate it will, in course of time, clog the passages and seriously interfere with or obstruct the operation of the apparatus.

The main object of my invention is to prevent the accumulation of this carbon deposit by automatically effecting the oxidation of the free carbon and the removal there is provided a vapor. generator A pre erably in the form of a metal tube partially closed at its upper end to leave a comparatively small outlet orifice V. The interior of the tube is loosely packed with a heat resisting and noncombustible material, such, for instance, as asbestos. or fine nickel wire or fragments. The material is treated with barium oxid which may be applied in the form of a paste and then dried out or it may be applied 'in the form'of a powder or small particles throughout the material.

The lower end of the tube A is open andv connected through a pipe L to a source of fuel supply such as "asolene or ker'osene S within a container 1\ which may also serve .part of the chamber plug 0 having a connection N for attaching an air pump or other source of air pressure. Through the filler plug there is provlded an air inlet passage R having a valve chamber P and check valve Q. This check valve may be of any suitable form, but is shown of the ball and socket type permitting air to be pumped into the chamber M for the purpose of forcing the oil up through pipe L, it being noted that the lower end of the latter terminates adjacent to the bottom of the container M.

-Above the vapor generator A is an air inlet passage D so arranged that when vapor is generated in the chamber A and delivered through the outlet orifice ,Vit will act as an injector to suck in a supply of air through the lower end of the air inlet D and this mixture of air and vapor may pass through a mixing chamber G to the burner. The latter is shown as including a perforated outlet plate H delivering to the interior of a mantel I whereby a Bunsen flame is produced and the mantel heated to incandescence. The mlxing chamber G is of substantially inverted U form so that the burner comes adjacent to the generator A. At the upper part of the mixing chamber there may be provided a lug W and ascrew or other clamp X for supporting and retaining a lamp shade. If it is desired to employ a a reflector this may be securedto the air inlet conduit D by means of a screw E having a head F. The burner serves not only to give light, if an incandescent mantel be employed, but also serves to maintain the generator at the desired temperature.

In order to secure a supply of oxygen to the generating chamber the liquid fuel '3 is preferably treated. by charging it with a mixture of water and carbon-dioxid gas. The fuel may be forced through water that is charged with carbon dioxid or may be mixed in any other suitable way with a gaseous or vaporizable substance containing oxy en, gas or oxygenin combination. Some 0 the air com )resse'd in the upper may also go into solution in the li lid fuel.

Adjacent to the lower end of the generating chamber is a small cup or priming pan C in which alcohol or other readily combustible liquid may be placed and burned for the initial heating of the vapor generator.

In operation the compressed air T'in the upper part of thechamber M forces the liquid fuel containing the oxidizing agents up through the pipe L. The priming liquid is ignited in the pan C and this heats the generator to such a temperature that the liquid fuel, which is then admitted or which has previously been admitted to the generator, is vaporized and delivered to the burner H. This is ignited and its heat maintains the generator at the desired temperature to continue the vaporization of the fuel delivered past valve K. v

In ordinary devices of this general type the vaporization of the liquid fuel in the generator 'Acauses deposition of carbon in the generator. By means of my invention I prevent this accumulation of carbon as follows:

As the temperature rises, the barium oxid with which the packing is charged reacts with the air present in the generator before admission of the fuel or with the carbon dioxid, air of other oxygen containing materials mixed with the fuel when the latter is admitted, and either barium carbonate or barium peroxid is produced, the reactions being as follows:

As the temperature rises still higher, the barium compounds, that is the barium carbonate or peroxid give ofi' carbon dioxid or oxygen, as the case may be and these gases combine with any deposited carbon or carbonaceous deposit at the high tem erature existing in the generator and give 0 carbon monoxid gas. The reactions whereby the barium carbonate or barium peroxid give off carbon dioxid or oxygen as the case may be are as follows:

The oxygen thus produced may unite directly with the incandescent high temperature carbon or carbonaceous matter in the generator to produce carbon monoxid or carbon'dioxid and any carbon dioxid produced may unite with the incandescent or high temperature carbon according to the following well known reaction The generator chamber asses through the critical temperature at w ich the barium oxid takes on oxygen, alone or in combination, both during the heating up process when the lamp is to be lighted, and during the cooling oif process after the lamp is turned out. The oxygen absorbed at these two times is given up at the higher tem perature during normal operation of the lamp and then reacts, While in the nascent stage of being given off from the barium oxid either as oxygen or carbon dioxid, with the carbon which has been or is about to be deposited and thus the accumulation of carbon is prevented. The small quantity of water mixed with the oil also serves to supply a source of oxygen for the purpose of consuming deposited carbon, the water being converted into steam and the steam reacting on the incandescent carbon in the presence of the barium compound to produce carbon monoxid and hydrogen, both of which may burn with the vapors to help heat the mantle.

It is possible that the reactions above referred to are not exactly those which take place, but I have demonstrated from experiment that these or some similar reactions take place whereby the presence of barium oxid in the generator and the presence of water, carbon dioxid or air in the liquid fuel prevents accumulation of carbon and thus removes a very serious objection to this type of apparatus.

I have described my invention as working best with a fuel hiunidified with liquids containing or composed of oxygen and hydrogen and charged with carbon dioxid gas, but I have found that the apparatus will operate although'in a lesser degree of perfection should the fuel not be so charged. The compressed air used to force the oil or other liquid fuel through the generator will, to a. limited extent, dissolve in the liquid and this oxygen will act very efliciently to remove the deposited carbon from the generating chamber. When the apparatus cools down after the light is turned out it is quite possible that some air will be drawn down through the orifice V into the generator and will react with the barium oxid during the cooling down or will be present to act on the barium oxid during the heating up when the lamp is again lighted. It is, of course, un-

derstood that the rate at which carbon is ordinarily deposited is comparatively low and that, therefore, a comparatively slight absorption and liberation of oxygen by the barium oxid each time the lamp is used will be suflicient to counteract the carbon depositing influence and thus prevent the accumulation of carbon. I do not wish to be limited in any way to the specific form of apparatus illustrated.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

of air to such a temperature as to form barium peroxid, delivering thereto a hydrocarbon liquid containing an oxidizing agent thereby producing hydrocarbon vapor and further converting the barium oxid to barium peroxid, and burning the vapor outside of the generator to thereby heat the generator to a higher temperature and continue the production of vapor, and to reconvert barium peroxid to barium oxid with liberation of oxygen at high temperature and oxidation of any deposited carbon, the barium oxid being'partially reconverted to barium peroxid during the cooling following the shutting ofi of hydrocarbon from the generator.

2. The process of preventing the accumulation of carbon deposits in hydrocarbon vapor generators for intermittently operated burners, which consists in heating a generator containing barium oxid in the presence of air to such a temperature as to form barium peroxid, delivering thereto a hydrocarbon liquid, heating the generator to a higher temperature by the heat of combustion of said vapor burned outside of the generator and thereby converting the barium peroxid to barium oxid with liberation of oxygen at high temperature and oxidation of carbon deposited from the hydrocarbon on the conversion of the latter from a liquid to gaseous state.

3. The process of preventing the accumulation of carbon deposits, which consists in subjecting a hydrocarbon to high temperature in the presence of an oxidizing agent and an oxid of barium, and intermittently varying the temperature to cause the conversion of barium oxid into barium peroxid with the absorption of oxygen from the oxidizing agent, and the reconversion of the barium peroxid into barium oxid with the liberation of oxygen in the presence of the hydrocarbon to oxidize carbon deposits from the latter.

JAMES PICKERING KENDALL.

Witnesses ROBERT N. PATTERSON, IRVING 0. BALL. 

